Macbook Air M3 not detecting Samsung monitors through Targus docking station

cara-rima wrote:

It's this one: https://us.targus.com/products/usb-c-universal-dv4k-docking-station-with-100w-power-delivery-legacy-host-power-kit-dock192usz

That's not a Thunderbolt dock. Targus describes it as "Thunderbolt 3 compatible", but a lot of vendors of plain (non-Thunderbolt) USB-C products use that type of wording. (Thunderbolt 3 ports use the USB-C connector – and a USB-C host port that supports Thunderbolt 3 will almost always support USB and DisplayPort Alt Mode as well, which are the protocols that such "Thunderbolt-compatible" devices actually use.)

Targus says that "this dock packs all of the ports and power you need, whether you have a USB-C or USB-A host device." USB-A was never designed to support video. That's a sure indication that this dock relies on a second-class workaround technology, rather than on hardware video output, at least some of the time.

Sure enough, the Quick Start Guide for the dock refers to installing DisplayLink drivers, and the downloads page for the dock has various DisplayLink-related downloads for Windows, Linux, and macOS.

I'm a bit surprised that the Quick Start Guide did not direct you to the Synaptics site and the DisplayLink articles there.

Synaptics – DisplayLink Graphics

DisplayLink Forum – Troubleshooting: macOS

Also, note that a M3 MacBook Air can only drive one external display when the lid is open.

You must close the lid – freeing up hardware resources normally allocated to the built-in screen – before you can drive a second external display.

Which Targus docking station is this?

Targus – Docking Stations

Macs can only drive two displays through a single dock if

• The Mac in question supports attaching multiple external displays via USB-C or Thunderbolt.
• The dock is a Thunderbolt dock. Macs do not support DisplayPort MST daisy-chaining or the equivalent. Any plain USB-C dock that has two more more video outputs will be driving the extra ones either using MST (which Macs do not support), or through second-class workarounds that require installation of special drivers.

Of all of the docks at the Targus site, only one appears to be a Thunderbolt one.